Gm!
Welcome to the August Deal Flow Digest, your snapshot of every crypto / web3 funding round we tracked last month, plus some a quick update on the major US Crypto Regulatory Developments.
At the bottom, be sure to check out the sheet below with ALL the deals, and the recent hackathon/demo day results (in the links).
The U.S. is reshaping its approach to crypto oversight. Just since July, the House passed the CLARITY Act, the SEC launched “Project Crypto”, and the Senate Banking Committee released a draft Digital Asset Market Structure bill alongside a request for input from builders.
Staying current on these moves keeps teams competitive if (and when) rules are signed into law. For founders and allocators, tracking these moves isn’t trivia, it’s edge so you can capitalize on a regulated crypto era.
Here’s a look at what’s happened so far.
The CLARITY Act cleared the U.S. House of Representatives, a noteworthy inflection point for token projects, policy advocates, and decentralized governance ecosystems.
Supporters argue the measure could kick off a new phase for tokens: one grounded in transparency, decentralization, and regulatory alignment.
Substantively, the Act lays out a two-phase pathway. Tokens begin as investment contracts under SEC oversight where “issuers may raise up to $75 million within a 12-month window” and then transition to digital commodities under CFTC supervision once decentralization criteria are met. Core thresholds include that “no single entity or affiliated group controls more than 20% of token supply or governance power.”
The framework would replace ambiguity with clearer compliance standards and a structured path to U.S. institutional capital as teams build toward decentralization. It also clarifies that once a network attains commodity status, secondary market trading of tokens previously sold in a securities offering will not be treated as securities transactions. This effectively removes a key barrier to U.S. exchange listings and institutional adoption that previously pushed projects offshore.
Next steps: The CLARITY Act now heads to the Senate, where Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott has advanced a competing market-structure bill (the Responsible Financial Innovation Act of 2025) that builds on CLARITY but introduces several changes. Chairman Scott faces a September 30 deadline to move his bill out of committee, with potential floor action and House–Senate reconciliation targeted for late 2025 or early 2026.
On July 31, 2025, SEC Chair Paul Atkins announced Project Crypto, an initiative to “modernize securities rules so U.S. markets can operate on-chain.”
The program centers on three priorities that matter to protocol teams:
Clear, usable guidelines to determine whether a crypto asset is a security;
A path for truly decentralized, non-intermediated software systems to operate with protected status; and
An “innovation exemption” allowing both registrants and non-registrants to bring new models to market more quickly.
For builders, this signals a shift from regulation-by-enforcement to frameworks that enable compliant innovation. As Atkins put it, the aim is to move past the era of convoluted offshore structures, “decentralization theater,” and uncertainty over security status. Music to our ears.
The Senate Banking Committee released a discussion draft of its Digital Asset Market Structure legislation along with a Request for Information (RFI) seeking industry input on jurisdictional clarity, decentralization standards, and potential safe-harbor provisions.
The RFI offers protocol teams a direct opportunity to influence how rules are built, signaling a more collaborative posture that incorporates technical expertise from active builders.
Together, the CLARITY Act, Project Crypto, and the Senate’s market-structure process point toward clearer lanes for token launches, institutional participation, and day-to-day compliance. Teams that begin aligning to these frameworks now will be best positioned to capitalize on regulatory clarity, allowing them to access U.S. institutional capital while reducing compliance risk as the rulebook takes shape.
Lots of Digital Asset Treasuries Companies (DATs). Additional funding rounds found in the google sheets link!
Galaxy Digital | Post-IPO | CeFi | $1.4B | 2025-08-14
Galaxy Digital (NASDAQ: GLXY), a diversified financial services firm in digital assets, raised $1.4B in a Post-IPO round. The company operates across trading, investment banking, mining, and more.
Bullish | IPO | CeFi | $1.11B | 2025-08-12
Bullish (NYSE: BLSH), a digital asset exchange offering deep liquidity and automated market making, raised $1.11B at a $5.4B valuation in its IPO.
ETHZilla | Private | CeFi | $425M | 2025-08-10
ETHZilla, an Ethereum-focused asset manager, raised $425M in a private round backed by Electric Capital, Borderless Capital, and Polychain Capital.
Heritage Distilling | Private | Others | $220M | 2025-08-10
Heritage Distilling (NASDAQ: CASK), a craft spirits company blending whiskey with Web3, raised $220M to support its new $IP token reserve strategy, backed by firms like a16z, Hashed, and Mirana.
Satsuma Technology Plc | Undisclosed | Others | $217.6M | 2025-08-05
Satsuma Technology raised $217.6M, nearly half of which was settled in Bitcoin. The company builds infrastructure and agents on Bittensor and invests in AI-driven subnets.
DeFi Development | Post-IPO | DeFi | $125M | 2025-08-24
DeFi Development Corporation (NASDAQ: DFDV) raised $125M in a Post-IPO round. The company adopted a treasury strategy allocating reserves to Solana (SOL).
IVIX | Series B | Others | $60M | 2025-08-17
IVIX, a blockchain project tackling financial crime and tax transparency with AI, raised $60M in a Series B led by Insight Partners and Citi Ventures.
Thumzup Media Corporation | Post-IPO | Others | $50M | 2025-08-11
Thumzup, a social commerce platform and upcoming Dogecoin miner, raised $50M to expand its peer-influencer marketing and Scrypt-algorithm mining initiatives.
Bit2Me | Undisclosed | CeFi | $35M | 2025-08-06
Spain-based exchange Bit2Me raised $35M in a round led by Tether Ventures, which also acquired a minority stake in the company.
DigiFT | Strategic | DeFi | $25M | 2025-08-20
DigiFT, a DEX for asset-backed tokens and the only one in MAS's regulatory sandbox, raised $25M to scale its AMM-based infrastructure for compliant real-world assets on Ethereum.
VCs are continuing to announce their new raises.
2025‑08‑04: Victus Global launches $10 million fund to back low‑cap blockchain projects aimed at second-round financing within its ecosystem and selected partner ventures, backed by its trading, liquidity, and OTC infrastructure.
2025‑08‑07: Scenius Capital raises $20 million fund of emerging crypto VC funds (slightly oversubscribed). The firm focuses on backing first‑ and second‑time fund managers with niche domain or geographic advantage, with strategic GP support from ParaFi.
2025‑08‑25: OKX announces $100 million X Layer ecosystem fund to support builders on its Ethereum L2 network, X Layer—outpacing Coinbase's similar Base ecosystem fund.
2025‑08‑27: Unified Ventures secures $30 million for RWA and stablecoin investments targeted at projects like FinChain and AlloyX focused on real‑world assets and stablecoins.
As a reminder, if you are interested in learning more about Bankless Ventures Fund II, please fill out this form and we will be in touch!
Upcoming
ETHGlobal New Delhi | Sep 26 - 28
New Delhi. $175k in prizes.
Ongoing
DuckChain X AWS | August 25 - Sept 1
Virtual. $1.1M in prizes
Broker API Hackathon | May - Oct
Virtual. $1M USDT in prizes.
World Computer | July 18 - October
Virtual. $300k in prizes
Hedera Africa Hackathon | July - November
Virtual. $1M in prizes
Finished (results in links)
ETHGlobal NY | Aug 15 - 17
NYC. $225k in prizes.
Unite Defi | July 25 - Aug 6
Virtual. $525k in prizes.
Upcoming
Orange Summer '25 Demo Day | Sept 23
Virtual
Alliance | Apply by Nov 5
Virtual
That’s a wrap for August!
Thank you and good luck out there!
Ben Lakoff, CFA
https://twitter.com/benlakoff
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.